Month: March 2018

First task is going to the dump. These cats generate more trash than I do!

Off to Livingston. Need to have my check engine light checked to get the codes. Also want to have the transmission fluid changed. A lot colder as I get near Livingston. Down to 13.

Also crazy to see the snow storm wall.

I stopped at the place that changed my oil to see if they could change the transmission fluid. Well that would be a “no”. They gave me the name of a transmission place. When there and they were closed. Found two other places on my phone. Both were closed. So no transmission fluid change. That was just a guess anyway based on all I was reading online. Now for the check engine light. When to O’Reilly Auto Parts. The worked for a while to get the codes. Finally got the codes. Good news was that the codes I had before were gone. The work I did with the ignition coils and spark plugs worked. The bad was that I now have new codes. They looked them up and found I needed two new parts. Then comes the dreaded “we don’t have those in stock”. So I ordered them and said I would be back next Saturday to pick them up. Then it was off to Taco Bell. Ran into some people from work at The Bell. Went to the grocery store next. Needed to get some fruit for the after church meal tomorrow, also needed some more soup. Once I had my supplies it was back to Gardiner.

Went to Good Friday Services at the Mammoth Chapel. It was beautiful inside. The service included different people speaking for the different roles reading through the Passion. Service ended with the reading of the last statements of Jesus on the cross. After each one a candle was extinguished and part of the lights were turned off. The service ended in total darkness. It was very moving.

The moon was amazing. I stopped on the way home to take a picture of it over the mountains.

Off to church. It was a good message. Jeff (the pastor) talked about everyone needing to feel comfortable talking about Jesus. Not that you needed to bring it up in every conversation but not holding back either. The example he gave was if a girl was telling everyone about her new boyfriend, but the boyfriend didn’t tell anyone about her and if directly asked he just said it was complicated. He also shared this video that I thought was really good.

The new ignition coils arrived via Amazon. So now to get someone to do the work. I called the shop in Livingston that did the oil change. They said they couldn’t do it due to insurance limits. I called Jiffy Lube in Bozeman and they said the might be able to do it during the week. They suggested I call back on Monday. I called Firestone and they said that the European car guy only worked M-F. Please take note here that they said the guy as in only one person at the shop. At this point I am very frustrated. It would be a huge pain and cost a lot to do the work during the week.

I start looking at online forums and videos about how to change the ignition coils and spark plugs for my car. I think I can do this, but I will need some tools, so off to Livingston I go. After a stop at the Ace Hardware,O’Reilly Auto Parts and Carquest Auto parts I now have a basic metric socket set, socket extender, spark plug socket and silicone gel. Back home we go after a quick stop at Taco Bell.

Now for the work. This is the before picture.

I have to disconnect the ignition coil cables and remove the bolts (two per ignition coil).

Then I have to take the ignition coils out. Once that is done then I have to take the spark plugs out.

Then I have to put the new spark plugs in.

Then I have to put in the new ignition coils.

Then I have to connect the cables and lock them in.

Lastly I have to put the cover back on and say a prayer.

Thank the Lord the car starts. I take a celebratory drive to Subway for a dinner treat. The car is still not running correctly, but that horrible knocking and thinking it was about to turn off is gone. It is slow changing gears and slow accelerating in low gears. Will need to research this issue, but this is a victory. I can now do some basic car work. Being here really makes you be more reliant on yourself for things.